The community impact of terrorism

The case of the 2022 Pride terrorist attack in Norway

Open access article

Abstract

Although terrorist attacks sometimes target minorities, there are few studies of the impact of terrorism on affected minority groups, as most studies investigate the effects of terrorism on out-group hostility, right-wing political shifts, and government support. Drawing on the previous studies on the effects of terrorism and perspectives from hate crime research, this article examines the consequences of the 2022 Pride terrorist attack in Oslo, Norway. Based on an online survey of Norwegian LGBTIQ+/queer people (total N = 906), including people who reported being present in the targeted area when the terrorist attack occurred (N = 127) and others who were not present (N = 777), this study focuses on emotional reactions, behavioral changes, and perceptions of Norwegian society after the attack. The findings show how the terrorist attack had major negative consequences on all three dimensions measured, not only for those who experienced the attack first hand but also for those indirectly affected through their LGBTIQ+ identity. We argue that this illustrates a profound negative ‘community impact’ of terrorism on the minority group, which poses a threat to diversity and to the protection and inclusion of minorities as core liberal democratic values, and should be taken seriously by society and investigated in future terrorism research.